Surprisingly rare and expensive GameCube games
by David Hinkle 
{ Nov 21st 2008 at 7:10PM }
We love a lot of GameCube games. In fact, when Play on Wii was announced, it felt like a dream come true. See, we imagine many GameCube games being retooled for Wii. Now, we're glad its actually happening for some of those games.But, not all titles are destined to get that touch of Wii magic. And, what if you never had a chance to try some of them? Well, unless you've got a suitcase buried in the back yard, there are a few titles that might be a bit out of reach, according to the list over at Video Game Price Charts.
Of all of them, which would you say is the "must own" title?
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Ninbrendo @ Nov 21st 2008 7:54PM
From that list, I have Beyond Good and Evil, Dance Dance Revolution: Mario Mix, Cubivore, The Legend Of Zelda: Ocarina of Time Master Quest, and Pikmin 2.
I wish I had picked up Ikaruga when it was available, but as far as "must have" goes, my vote goes to The Legend Of Zelda: Ocarina of Time Master Quest.
vidGuy @ Nov 21st 2008 8:40PM
WTF to NCAA 2k3. I know for a fact my local Gamestop was selling that a year or two ago for less than $5. The best one on that list is Twin Snakes, but I wouldn't even call that a must play.
Loz:OoT Master Quest is pretty good, but I'd rather play it on the VC than with a GC controller.
ProfWho @ Nov 21st 2008 9:31PM
Yet, you cannot play it on the VC. The Master Quest was only released for the GC.
Haohmaru @ Nov 21st 2008 8:41PM
The one pictured. I loved Twin Snakes.
I had a WTF moment at the mention of Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance. I bought that game NEW at Gamestop just over a year ago for $20. Now it costs $40 USED? Craaaaazy.
halongw77 @ Nov 21st 2008 8:50PM
Metal Gear Solid Twin Snakes would be awesome but I'd have to say I'm most excited for Metroid Prime 1 and 2. I never really played em that much, I rented them a couple times and got bored quick but I bought Metroid Prime 3 Corruption and I love it. I will most certainly buy both Metroid 1 and 2 if they come here to the US retooled.
But you know this isn't the answer to pleasing hardcore gamers. This just isn't it. We never thought that we would be so desperate to play hardcore games on the Wii that we would have to resort to old games that we already played. I think Nintendo's only option to truly please the hardcore and bring in all those PS3 and Xbox 360 gamers to the Wii is to create a Metroid with improved combat, puzzles and adventure and create a one of the best multiplayer experiences on any console. Multiplayer meaning online, LAN or split-screen. Why new Metroid specifically? Well let's think about it. Metroid is one of Nintendo's key franchises for starters. Metroid is also an FPS/FPA but I would hope Nintendo would perfectly balance the FPS with the FPA (in single player only. single player should invade multiplayer) because from playing Metroid 3 it is definitely an FPA because the combat just gets so old and repetitive after playing it for a while and even though you're not fighting most of the time I dread finding guys to kill unless it's a boss. Metroid has a great artistic style and design that sticks out just as much as Halo does and this is where unfortunately the Conduit would fail to deliver on from what I've seen. I think The Conduit will suffice as the Wii's killer app but from what we've seen it's artistic style and design looks plain and generic which unfortunately wouldn't stick out like a killer app should. That's why Nintendo needs to turn Metroid into it's very own Conduit cept keep plenty of puzzle and adventure in it in order to keep the Hardcore Nintendo happy. The Hardcore Nintendo is not the same thing as the Hardcore gamer. It's just not. The Hardcore Nintendo is very weird and most of the time makes no damn sense...
Bowser the Baptist @ Nov 22nd 2008 6:17AM
"The Hardcore...is very weird and most of the time makes no damn sense... "
Yeah, that's the only bit I understood.
lobotomies4free @ Nov 22nd 2008 9:21AM
I feel the same way about conduit
brighenne @ Nov 21st 2008 8:52PM
I absolutely love ikaruga.
SephFinale @ Nov 21st 2008 9:02PM
From their entire list, I have Ikaruga, Pokemon Box, Skies of Arcadia, Baten Kaitos: Origins, and Killer 7. And the Zelda: Collector's Edition disc, which is listed as "Zelda 4 Game Collection". They aren't kidding about Rave Master being fun. It's hilarious when you make everyone dance as Nami, and your friends get pissed. >83
Ark @ Nov 21st 2008 9:06PM
Interesting thing: I just got done playing Metal Gear Solid the Twin Snakes.
One game that I can't seem to get my hands on is Prince of Persia: Sands of Time. I can't find it anywhere, and I hear that it's a really good game.
Lindsay @ Dec 22nd 2008 6:09PM
I have Prince of Persia Sands of Time for sale if you want.
jmf @ Nov 21st 2008 9:06PM
I paid 14.99 (Canadian dollars) for Ikaruga brand new about 4-5 years ago. I also have Twin Snakes, Phantasy Star Online, and Code Veronica.
Zealot @ Nov 21st 2008 9:08PM
tl;dr warning, so don’t complain if you forgot to take your ritalin and then tried to read this.
It’s going to be a nightmare to be a Gamecube collector in the future. Makes me wish I would have started earlier. Anyway, the best of the list is undoubtedly Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance, mainly because the Fire Emblem fanboy in me demands that I say this. If you’ve never gotten into the series, it’s an alright starting point. Twilight Princess doesn’t count because it was a major first-party release and only two years ago, and prices come down a lot more slowly for Nintendo’s main franchises. I’m ashamed to say that I don’t have a lot on the list. I could kick myself in the teeth for not buying the copy of Cubivore I saw at a GameStop two months ago.
I must say, though: some of those prices have to be inflated by greedy ebay sellers. A lot of the time, the mindset there seems to be “if seller x charged $X for their item and sold it, I’ll try and get $X+1!” instead of undercutting the competition to ensure a sale. Sellers also include ebay and paypal fees in the price so they don’t lose a cut of what they want to earn, which wasn’t such a problem until ebay decided to drastically raise a lot of their fees.
Also, with amazon and half, they’re both fixed-price sites where sellers operate more like stores and can sit on an item at their chosen price for as long as they want, giving them less incentive to take a cut in order to sell their item more quickly.
I’m not saying that the prices don’t accurately reflect what people have resigned themselves to pay for these things, but these values are still somewhat tainted by how sellers on these sites operate.
Alistair @ Nov 21st 2008 11:25PM
Cubivore? Gamestop will sell you that mail-order for $24.99, and a good number of local Gamestops near me have a copy (YMMV of course.)
They had Beyond Good & Evil on the list at $22 when Gamestop have mail-order ones and a bunch of local ones at $14.99 -- methinks it isn't as rare as these guys surmise!
Roddie @ Nov 21st 2008 10:04PM
Most expensive discs for the Gamecube are probably the Japanese bonus for Pokémon Colosseum that lets you get Celebi and a game called Pilgrimage that comes with a walking mat.
Roto13 @ Nov 21st 2008 10:43PM
A few of those games (Ikaruga, Beyond Good & Evil, Skies of Arcadia: Legends) I bought more because they were rare than because I wanted to play them. (The only one I really wanted to play was Skies of Arcadia: Legends and it ended up being a pretty big let-down.)
Others I bought because they're awesome. And I have both of those Zelda bonus discs and that fact makes me very happy, both because they're rare and because I love Zelda. :P
VENOM @ Nov 21st 2008 11:14PM
I'm proud to own (from that list) DDR Mario Mix, Phantasy Star Online EP I & II, Star Wars Jedi Outcast, and the Zelda Collector's Edition. All of them are amazing, by the way.
If I had the chance, I would pick up Ocarina of Time Master Quest, Pikmin 2, MGS Twin Snakes, Digimon Rumble Arena 2, and PSO Plus.
Azzazel @ Nov 21st 2008 11:27PM
OMG I just cant believe how unappreciated Eternal Darkness is that no one even mentioned it!! Shame on you all..
Abscissa @ Nov 22nd 2008 7:30AM
That's because it wasn't on that list. (Maybe its used prices are sensible.)
Lakitu @ Nov 21st 2008 11:39PM
Ikaruga full the way!
I won this game in an ebay auction for less than $20 three years ago. I recently sold this very same one 40 bucks!
Just_a_guy @ Nov 21st 2008 11:54PM
can you beleive I found Zelda master quest at gamestop? it only cost 25 dollars too!!!
Just_a_guy @ Nov 21st 2008 11:54PM
oh and we need N64 games to come to the DS. Raise your hand if you want to play Goldeneye 64 online with your DS?
Hardy @ Nov 22nd 2008 12:26AM
Don't even think any system will get Goldeneye.
It's in legal limbo with 4 parties having say in it, two of them being Nintendo and Microsoft.
The others are Rare and whoever currently owns the rights to the Bond license.
I mean, if both were smart, they'd agree to put it on both Wii and Xbox, but no. They're stupid.
Bowser the Baptist @ Nov 22nd 2008 7:23AM
You can throw away that quilt of nostalgia, Goldeneye no longer holds up. As much as I dislike the genre, even I can see there are superior FPS on the market. Hell, Goldeneye wasn't even the best console FPS of its time. You'd think people would be clamouring for Duke Nukem 64.
GatorSax2010 @ Nov 22nd 2008 12:20AM
I picked up Twin Snakes a couple years ago used for $9.99. Who knew I was getting such a deal?
Zach S @ Nov 22nd 2008 2:42AM
Wow, I'm surprised they didn't mention Eternal Darkness!!! I've been looking for a copy for ages at Gamestop, and only once has one appeared (but with no real jacket or manual so I stupidly skipped it). It's the one game I'm still waiting to play on the 'cube- I guess it's at least somewhat heartening that it wasn't on the list...
Abscissa @ Nov 22nd 2008 7:38AM
Ikaruga
Runners-up:
- Pikmin 2 (loses due to product placement, de-emphasized overworld, and a blur filter that can't be disabled)
- Beyond Good and Evil (loses due to numerous flaws: insipid and unskippable cutscenes, framerate issues (even on the XBox version), feels like an epic but then just...ends, difficult-for-all-the-wrong-reasons final boss, can't go back and finish anything else once you start the last level and you're never warned about this fact, and various camera and control issues)
Gewurz Man got equipped with... Guitar Hero! @ Nov 22nd 2008 8:02AM
I've got MarioDDR, Twin Snakes, and Pikmin 2. None of which I'd call "must own" but all of which I'm still glad I do own.
Discosis @ Nov 22nd 2008 9:04AM
By a complete accident (which is to do with living in a shared house and not being able to play the Cube at the time), I have an unopened, still-wrapped Twin Snakes sitting here. Neat! :)
RasenganFury @ Nov 22nd 2008 12:19PM
The only ones I have are Twilight Princess and Digimon Rumble Arena 2.
SephFinale @ Nov 22nd 2008 4:13PM
Ikaruga for Dreamcast is worth more than the GCN version.
Abscissa @ Nov 22nd 2008 5:33PM
Why is that? (I've never played the dreamcast version...even though I've always been and will be a dreamcast fan.)
SephFinale @ Nov 24th 2008 12:41AM
Only like, 500 copies were made. And it's Japan-only.
HUYI @ Nov 23rd 2008 9:51AM
that list is laughable, half of those games are not even considered rare.
Chris @ Nov 24th 2008 11:21AM
I have, from that list, PSO, DDR:MM, FE:PoR, and SoA. Skies of Arcadia has and will always be one of my favorite games of all time. If Sega ever made a sequel I'd fly to their HQ and suck their proverbial joystick.
Thanatos @ Nov 24th 2008 4:23PM
I have Twin Snakes, all the Zelda Disks but im trying to get my hands on Ikaruga and my 20+ title Gamecube collection will be complete.
Bones3D @ Nov 24th 2008 5:51PM
Wow, who knew my barely used copy of MSG: Twin Snakes, which is now collecting dust on my shelf, was still worth something?
I'm also surprised Pikmin 2 is in demand, but not the amazingly well made Eternal Darkness. (At least, according to this list.)
One game that is mentioned briefly, which I now kind of regret parting with is Gotcha Force. The game was kind of Capcom's response to Pokemon, but with dozens of tiny robots you'd collect and battle in normal everyday environments from the perspective of the robots themselves. (Such as a playground, which would become huge environment with tons of strategic choke points you could exploit in different ways, based upon the type of robots used.) It's sort of like the premise of the currently popular "Bakugan" series, only not as lame.
As for paying through the nose for nostalgia, I have only two instances. The first being Robot Alchelmic Drive on the PS2. The other, shelling out nearly $150 for a VHS copy of "Electric Dreams", due to the fact that the movie was never sold outside of rental markets. To this day, the movie remains impossible to find through legitimate channels (likely due to licensing issues over the soundtrack.)